@2K/GOLD FM/MELODY IRTC applications 1999:
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@2K 1999
Studios &
Operations
STUDIOS AND OPERATIONS
The @2K business plan has been formulated very much with the combined future of radio and the internet in mind. Therefore we have chosen to locate the company where there is significant high capacity bandwidth. The home of @2K is adjacent to the new National Digital Park, recently announced as the central e-commerce hub for Ireland. This exciting initiative by the Irish Government includes the provision of a massive broadband infrastructure which @2K see as essential for future development.
The @2K Studio Building
The @2K studios will be located at the first floor of the J D Edwards Building, also known as first floor block D, at the Citywest Business Campus, Brownsbarn, Naas Road, Dublin 12. Architects' drawings are contained in Appendix 8. The premises will be leased on a 25 year lease. These premises have full planning permission for office use (see Appendix 9) with which the proposed studio use is compatible. The premises also has a current Fire Safety Certificate (see Appendix 10). Also included in the appendices is a copy of the Architects Opinion on Compliance with Building Regulations (see Appendix 11) confirming full access and provision for wheelchair and disabled persons throughout the building in compliance with Part M of the Building Regulations. An application for full planning permission (see Appendix 12) has been lodged with South Dublin County Council Planning Department by @2K's architect, Felim Dunne, for the erection of a 1.2metre diameter grid type antenna for a studio to transmitter broadcast link to the first floor south balcony.
The substructure of the premises comprises in-situ reinforced concrete pads and strip foundations/ rising walls to in-situ concrete columns and loadbearing walls. An in-situ powerfloated ground floor concrete slab rests on a damp-proof membrane on blinding on hardcore. The first floor is a precast concrete slab with a sand and cement screed. The structure is of in-situ reinforced concrete columns, beams and loadbearing walls. External walls are of insulated cavity wall construction with concrete block inner leaf and selected clay brickwork and painted plastered blockwork outer leaf. Selected slates rest on battens with felt and insulation to prefabricated roof trusses. External windows and doors are powder coated aluminium and double glazed. The car parking area is finished in tarmacadam with pecast concrete kerbs. Surface water and foul sewers are connected to existing manholes in the estate roadway. Draw-in ducts are provided from estate road to the premises for Electric and Telecoms services. The site and its environs are landscaped in a selection of decidious and coniferous trees with flowering shrubs and ground covers.
Internal finishes are hardwood skirting to cores; carpet to main stairs and secondary stairs. Safety nosings as necessary, ceramic tiling to washroom floors. Carpet to ground floor and first floor lobbies. Aluminium / rubber entrance matting to main doors and raised access floors throughout tenancy. A reinforced concrete entrance staircase is finished with painted mild steel handrails. The entrance core also has a hydraulic passenger lift suitable for use by a person in a wheelchair.
@2K Studio Facilities:
The @2K facilities are to comprise:
An On-Air Studio, approximately 4.6m x 3.8. This will be used exclusively for on-air output, with access to on-air telephone lines and ISDN lines.
A Production studio, approximately 3.0m x 4.0m with integral voice booth. This will be used for recording and editing commercial spots, promotional spots and programmes and additionally as an emergency and maintenance backup for the On-Air studio.
A News Studio/Sub Production Studio, approximately 3.0m x 3.5m. This will be used for preparing, editing and presenting News bulletins and as an overflow for the main production studio.
A Racks room, approximately 4.5m x 3.0m. This will house the un-interruptable power supply, Omnia On-Air processor, studio to transmitter links, ISDN equipment, telephone hybrids, PABX, ten second profanity delay, On-Air logging equipment and support equipment.
@2K Studio acoustic construction:
The @2K studios will be designed to have a reverberation time of .2 of a second and an internal noise level of no greater than NR25 based on octave band analysis, which complies with international broadcast recommendations.
The studio walls will be a box within a box structure. The studio will be sectioned off from the remainder of the building with a partition that is constructed to fit tightly up to the existing soffit. The studios themselves will be constructed as individual boxes from a modified "Camden" partition that are contained within the outer wall and each of the studios will have its own ceiling joists and isolation ceiling.
The outer barrier wall will be constructed from 75x47 SW studs on 400mm centres. The studwork will be clad each side with a 12mm layer of fibreboard and two layers of British Gypsum 15mm Soundbloc Plasterboard. All plasterboard joists are to be butt-jointed on the timber members, staggered, taped and filled. The exposed side of the outer wall is skimmed. This construction exceeds 30 minutes fire rating.
The studio walls will be constructed from similar softwood studs but modified to permit building from one side with 12mm fibreboard and two layers 15mm Soundbloc plasterboard each side. All plasterboard joists are to be butt-jointed on the timber members, staggered, taped and filled.
The fibreboard, which serves to damp the resonance in the plasterboard as well as partially isolating the plasterboard from the timber frame, contributes a significant portion of the mass and therefore increases the sound insulating properties of the partition.
All studio frames will be filled with Rockwool insulation between the facing sheets.
The cavity between the partitions will be blocked at the end of each wall with dense Rockwool to act as a cavity barrier and trimmed with hardwood edging.
All studio and outer walls will have their sole and head plates mounted resiliently from the existing structure using a quality hair felt material and non-setting mastic.
The inside of the studio walls will additionally be clad with softwood framing, Rockwool between the studs and a hardboard covering that is perforated depending on position on the walls to approximately 0.05% or 5% of area to control the acoustics of the room. This hardboard will then be covered with a plastic sheet, dustsheet and a tight weave fabric that is fire treated to class 1 speed of flame.
The ceilings will be constructed from 200mm x 47mm joists spaced at 400mm centres. The underside will be clad with a layer of 12mm fibreboard and two layers of 15mm Soundbloc Plasterboard. The cavity between the joists will be filled with 100mm Rockwool insulation. A suspended acoustic ceiling will be fitted in the studios and sound lobby underneath the plasterboard ceiling.
Windows:
Vision windows having-sound resisting properties complementary to the wall structures will be installed where required. All sound resisting windows will be double glazed with three-ply laminated glass and angled to minimise internal visual and sound reflections.
Doors:
Sound-resisting doors will be supplied and installed to the studios and have a natural wood finish. All sound-resisting doors will be fitted with vision panels and will be supplied complete with frame and overhead door closer, magnetic seals and stainless steel pull handle and push plate. They will have a sound reduction rating of 45dB (SR).
Air-conditioning and ventilation:
All studios will be provided with cooling only air conditioning services. Due to the insulating properties of the studios and the amount of equipment operational in each one, heating will not be required. As the windows will not be opened and to maintain acceptable levels of oxygen and to contain decoration and equipment soiling the air-conditioning system will also provide approximately 20 Litres of fresh air to mix with the re-circulating air in each studio.
Humidity is very important in studios where speech is concerned, presenters will be on duty for several hours and, during holiday times and unexpected illness, often work extended shifts. To avoid dry throat speech defects, humidity levels will not be allowed to fall below 55%RH. Additionally humidity is important in technical areas where static electricity could, inadvertently, be discharged to a sensitive piece of equipment resulting in premature failure.
Condensing units are to be located outdoors on the roof. All refrigerant pipework and associated electrical services are to be run overhead within ceiling voids.
Studio technical services:
Cable ducts will be formed within the studio wall constructions to provide access between the studios and other areas for studio equipment wiring. Cable trays are to be installed within the ceiling voids to conduit cables from and between the studios and Racks. In the studios within the wall construction, cable raceways are to be formed at skirting and dado levels with vertical accesses for equipment wiring. Skirting and dado covers are to be natural-finished timber secured in place with countersunk screws in recessed cups to provide a flush finish. Trims to corners at wall and ceiling junctions are to be in natural matching wood pinned in place.
Standby power plant:
Standby power will be provided by an un-interruptable power supply and an auto start generator powered by natural gas or diesel. The changeover switching will be electrically and mechanically interlocked to ensure that in no event could power back feed into the ESB lines.
Principle equipment:
The principle play-out equipment will be the hard-disc audio system "Sounder Plus" from Radio Computing Services (RCS). This will store most of the frequently played music, commercial and promo spots. In the studios play-out will be from compact disc and mini disc which will be mixed on a state of the art studio mixer.
Deviation limiting:
In the studio the operators will control their levels with the aid of peak programme meters "PPM". Excess level will be reduced electronically by the automatic level control function of the Omnia On-Air processing equipment in the racks room which will be adjusted to ensure that the modulation level never exceeds specified limits.
Linking to the transmitter site:
It is proposed to link to the Rock Solid Transmission Limited transmission site on Three Rock using the Moseley StarLink digital STL in the 1.4GHz band. Perfect line of site exists and a Gridpak style dish to 1.8m can be accommodated.
Test equipment:
Broadcast Technical Solutions will be contracted to install, commission and maintain the technical equipment. They will supply all the necessary test and measurement equipment to ensure that the broadcast equipment is adjusted, calibrated and operating correctly.
Costings:
A summary of the costs are contained in the following four pages. Full costings are provided in the accompanying submission document marked 'Private & Confidential'.
costings 1
costings 2
costings 3
costings 4
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GOLD FM
Technical
Broadcast Technical Soloutions, Unit 6A, John Player House, South Circular Road, Dublin 8.
In addition to the TV3 Technical Department we have been advised by Joe King and Peter Gibney of Broadcast Technical Solutions Ltd (BTS), in the preparation of the technical aspects of this proposal. BTS are the leading provider of technical equipment and services to independent local radio. Joe King has assisted in the start-up of several radio stations, and until recently Peter was the Chief Engineer of 98FM.
The technical project team has been led by Peter Ennis, I. Eng., MBA, Director of Operations at TV3.
SECTION 8  TRANSMISSION PROPOSALS
The company intends to comply in full with the conditions laid down by the
Department of Communications and the Office of the Director of
Telecommunications Regulation.
Gold FM notes that there are three potential frequencies available for the
service. Whilst willing to operate on any of the three frequencies, we would
like to express a preference for the frequency 106.0MHz.
Transmission:
(i) Site:
Location: Three Rock Mountain, Co. Dublin
National grid reference: IO 177 233 (06W14, 53N15)
Site height: 448m a.s.l. (449m above Malin Head)
(ii) Proposed antenna height: It is proposed to locate the antenna at 40m
agl, subject to further negotiation with RTE.
(iii) Variations from Technical Characteristics Proposed by the IRTC:
The proposed transmission installation may vary in respect of antenna height
from the above proposals. This is due to the availability of space on the RTE
mast, and is in accordance with RTEs coverage and frequency planning.
Consideration will also be given to reducing radiation from the site in the
direction of the mountain-top.
(iv) Antenna/Mast details:
Gold FM proposes to enter into an agreement with RTE Commercial
Enterprises Limited for a managed transmission service. The owner of the
site and associated facilities is Radio Telefis Ιireann, but under the Broadcast
Bill 1999 it is proposed to transfer ownership of this site to a Designated
Company, provisionally named Digico. The proposed antenna is an Alan Dick
Crossbow type, consisting of 2 tiers x 4 round (total height 5m).
All other antennae are RTE owned as follows:
2 x UHF Antennae
Band III panels
Band II VHF
Microwave dishes.
(v) Coverage:
Anticipated coverage from the site for each proposed frequency has been
calculated and is shown in figures 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. These are given in field
strength contours of 54, 60 and 66dBmicroV/m at a reference height of 10m
above ground level, and were calculated using a fresnel model with the 1994
Deygout defraction method, the accuracy of which is better than 3dB at
1800MHz. A 100m contour Ordinance Survey database model was used.
(vi) Power:
The proposed total ERP is 5kW (2.5kW H, 2.5kW V) for proposed frequencies
102.2MHz and 103.8MHz, and 10kW (5kW H, 5kW V) for 106.0MHz. The
field strength contours provided were calculated using these ERP values
using a non-directional antenna.
(vii) Transmitter Details and Costs:
As RTE Commercial Enterprises will be providing a fully managed service no
transmitter capital costs have been provided. The annual cost of this service
will be £45,000 including microwave links to Three Rock.
(viii) Technical Expertise:
In addition to the technical expertise provided by TV3, we are happy to
acknowledge the assistance of Joe King and Peter Gibney of Broadcast
Technical Solutions Ltd (BTS), Unit 6A, John Player House, South Circular
Road, Dublin 8 in the preparation of the technical aspects of this proposal. It
is the intention of the group (subject to normal commercial negotiations) to
contract BTS to supply and install the studio facilities, and to provide on-going
technical services in addition to in-house engineering resources. The
transmission facilities will be fully supported by RTE Network Engineering.
(ix) Planning Issues:
Figure 8.1
Field Strength Coverage, 102.2MHz
Details:
Location: Three Rock Mountain, Co. Dublin
National grid reference: IO 177 233 (06W14, 53N15)
Site height: 448m a.s.l.
Antenna height: 40m
Antenna pattern: Non-directional
ERP: 5kW max (2.5kW Horizontal, 2.5kW
Vertical)
Scale: 3:100,000
Key:
 54dBuV/m -63dBm
 60dBuV/m -57dBm
 66dBuV/m -51dBm
Field Strength Coverage, 103.8MHz
Details:
Location: Three Rock Mountain, Co. Dublin
National grid reference: IO 177 233 (06W14, 53N15)
Site height: 448m a.s.l.
Antenna height: 40m
Antenna pattern: Non-directional
ERP: 5kW max (2.5kW Horizontal, 2.5kW
Vertical)
Scale: 3:100,000
Key:
 54dBuV/m -63dBm
 60dBuV/m -57dBm
 66dBuV/m -51dBm
Figure 8.3
Field Strength Coverage, 106.0MHz
Details:
Location: Three Rock Mountain, Co. Dublin
National grid reference: IO 177 233 (06W14, 53N15)
Site height: 448m a.s.l.
Antenna height: 40m
Antenna pattern: Non-directional
ERP: 10kW max (5kW Horizontal, 5kW
Vertical)
Scale: 3:100,000
Key:
 54dBuV/m -63dBm
 60dBuV/m -57dBm
 66dBuV/m -51dBm
SECTION 9  STUDIO & OPERATIONS
The group proposes to locate studios and offices at Block 19, ParkWest Business Park, Naas Road, Dublin 24. The group has an option on the sixth and seventh floors, with a total area of 566m 2 . The building is of straightforward construction, consisting of concrete slab floors with internal pillars. It can be easily adapted for our purpose.
The proposed building is of new construction, and is fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Michael Collins and Associates (MCA) have been commissioned to design the office and studio layout. MCA have many years experience in the design of facilities of this nature. They were responsible for the design of Windmill Lane Studios, the Oireachtas Broadcast Unit and more recently TV3.
Drawings of the studios and office layouts are shown in Technical Appendix 1.
Three studios are proposed. The main on-air studio will be based around a Soundcraft Series 10 on-air console. The production studio, used for commercial and jingle production will be based around a Ghost 32 channel production console. The third studio will be a multi-purpose News, Production and on-air backup studio. It will be based around a 16 channel Spirit console. In addition there will be a Central Technical Area and Links room.
Audio and data feeds will be transported to Three Rock by means of a digital microwave link system, for which the appropriate permissions and licences will be sought from the ODTR.
A full list of technical equipment is included in Technical Appendix 2.
Construction Details and Acoustic Treatment: In designing the studios careful attention has been given to acoustic requirements, in particular sound insulation, sound absorption and background noise. The studio walls shall comprise of a multi-skin cavity wall construction in order to achieve a typical isolation figure of 65 - 70 dB (Rw). Doors will be proprietary acoustic doorsets with perimeter seals. Glazing within the studios will be either double or triple glazing, with offset planes where appropriate.
The studios will have a final reverberation time in the region of 0.2 - 0.3 seconds. A range of absorbers, reflectors and diffusers will be used to achieve this figure and to reduce flutter echo and focussing effects.
Background ventilation and air-conditioning will be installed to achieve an overall noise figure of NR15 to NR20. The ventilation system will be of a suitable cross-section to allow sufficient air volume at low velocity. Where necessary in-line and crosstalk attenuators will be utilised, particularly between studios.
A 20 KVA standby power generator will be installed in the basement of the building, with a 5KVA UPS supplying the on-air areas.
Planning Matters: We have been advised that it should not be difficult to obtain planning consent for the proposed use of the building. Planning permission will also be required for the erection of a microwave dish on the roof of the building, but once again we are advised that there should be no difficulties. There is a possibility of obtaining space on a mast to be constructed on the site for which planning permission has already been granted. This would be our preferred location.
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MELODY
(iii) Transmission Consultants RTE Commercial Enterprises Ltd., (CEL) RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
(iv) Studio Consultants Clyde Broadcast, Clyde Business Products Ltd., 15 North Avenue, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank, UK. G81 2QP.
(v) Engineering Consultant John Whiteside, The Grange, Knock, Belfast N. Ireland
8. TRANSMISSION PROPOSALS
Transmission will be handled by RTE Commercial Enterprises Ltd (CEL), Donnybrook, Dublin 4. By the terms of the arrangement, the transmitter will be supplied, installed on the mast, run and serviced by CEL. Maps provided by CEL are attached and include coverage for the three proposed frequencies.
(i) Site location: Three Rock
(ii) Proposed ERP: 10 Kw . Mast shared with other services provided by CEL.
(iii) The signal propagation pattern will fall broadly in line with the coverage of existing FM services in the Dublin area. (As detailed in accompanying Maps from CEL).
(iv) Three Rock is an already existing transmission facility. Any planning permission which might be needed will be acquired by CEL.
(v) The transmitter and its installation is being capitalised by CEL and the facility leased to Dublin Melody at approximately £47,000 pa. See appendix (section 11)
(vi) John Whiteside is the Technical Advisor to the group. His specialism is transmission, having spent over a quarter of a century working with transmitters, radio and television, for the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the Independent Television Commission in Northern Ireland. He is a chartered Electrical Engineer and a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
61 9. STUDIOS AND OPERATIONS
At the time of going to press with this application negotiations are in progress for sites on the Ring Road or in Sandyford Industrial Estate. We are examining first or second generation industrial buildings of approximately 3,500 square feet suitable for conversion into office and studio space. Industrial structures are shells designed to be relatively easily modified to customer requirements. Studios can be delivered as units, dissembled at the point of manufacture and re-assembled on site.
Industrial buildings have other advantages. Radio stations do not need high street frontage. What they do need is parking space, good road access, the freedom to install transmission and reception aerials without the kind of planning problems associated with inner city sites. Planning for wheelchair access is also less problematic.
We intend to commission Clyde Broadcasting to undertake the construction of the studio complex. Clyde have decades of experience in this field. Originally they began as the technical side of Radio Clyde in Glasgow, but were separated into a company specialising in the field of radio studio complexes.
A schematic sketch follows while a more detailed studio layout may be found in the Appendices ..
The quotation from Clyde for studio equipment is an appendix, in which the equipment is listed. Test and deviation limiting (transmitter) will be the responsibility of CEL on our behalf.